Cold War Kids Cover Leonard Cohen

January 26, 2012

In celebration of the release of Leonard Cohen’s new LP, Old Ideas, this week, a number of artists influenced by the great songwriter’s oeuvre have paid homage to our mutual hero by covering his work. Greg Dulli went the faithful route on “Paper Thin Hotel” with a reverent take on Cohen’s Death Of A Ladies’ Man cut, Cold War Kids morphed “There Is a War” into what sounds very much like a Cold War Kids song. In our view, connecting the dots between a band’s own sound and their inspiration is a fine way to pay tribute to the master.

Check out in-studio footage of the SoCal group laying down the tracks, a brief interview in which they explain their song choice, and a tight, presumably well-rehearsed live version below (via Filter):